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Dear Jon, Have you had a chance to try linux again or have you stuck with vista? What is/was your 'take' on vista? S-

Porn fiends!! Now that's funny. The big thing about securing your wifi is to NOT broadcast your SSID. The acronym means service set identifier which essentially is the public name that you see when you search for an access point in order to connect. So really there are quite a few things: Do not broadcast your SSID. Connect to your access point and lock in the mac address of your machines. Set your encryption to the highest setting Make your PSK (preshared key) something that cannot be guessed. The best encryption is the type that changes keys randomly during data exchange. There are a few things to be vigilant about. Be aware of the person sitting in your garden with a laptop. Some people will drive around searching for unsecured wifi and mark your house somehow to identify it to other people that there is an unsecure network. Bottom line is the harder you make it for them to get in, the less likely they will spend the time trying. Please note your neighbors ten year old is exempt from the last statement. S-

Dear Snatcher, 802.11 is the standard for wireless each addition builds on 802.11, such as 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and soon 802.11n. 802.11n will be backwards compatible with 802.11g, and hopefully 802.11b meaning that you won't have to upgrade to all new gear- your legacy gear will still work but at the maximum rate of 54 mbps or 11mbps. The major difference is the thoroughput of 248mbps (datarate) and distance of 250 meters. Compare that to the current standard (g) of 54mbps and 140 meters. 802.11n will also use the 5 GHz range as well as 2.4GHz The bad news is it isn't scheduled to be released until June of 2009. S-

I'm offended!! We aren't all geeks Seriously though don't forget about keylogging if you still want to keep an eye on them whilst they are allowed on... Failing that.. Do what Pumphy said. S-

Dear Snatcher, When you say 'hotspot' I assume you mean wireless. The trouble with wireless is that it is easy to ahem 'SNIFF'. There are free downloads such as wireshark and airsnort and the like that, if used properly, allow you to pull passwords and other tidbits from the air. Not to mention piggybacking which could get you in loads of trouble.. It's what peadophiles do to not get caught... Its just a way to avoid getting nicked doing something that you probably shouldn't be doing anyway. If you have a legit connection what do you have to hide?? BTW Wifi is by no means secure. If he wants to keep his connection secure and give you a 'key' that would be preferable. But having the key does not make your system safe. Anything sent wirelessly can be rebuilt and login information can be taken. Don't do any online banking or anything you consider important! Also see http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article...qNum=7&rl=1 If he has wireless you might be able to get a limited signal. You can surf fine at 11mbps but it would be so much better to have a cable connecting at 100mbps and not have to worry too much about security Just wait until they release 802.11n! S- ps Good Luck in your retirement.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking that it wouldn't be that easy. I have found a few tutorials that are very well written including using the command line to make changes. All of them at the website I posted late last week. I am pretty new to Linux so I tend to to alot of research before I change anything.. I have an IBM Thinkpad Z60t Lenovo with 1gb of ram and a pentium M. I highly doubt the biometrics work out of the box I have a week long class in London next month and would rather not be trying to learn a new OS prior to that. Its supposed to be very involved.

Chris, What release of Mint are you using? I've tried Celena, I think it is 3.1. Did you have any problems running wifi.. I'm not ready to take the plunge but have used the live cds and I haven't been able to use the net while running it live (wired or wireless) Just curious to see if you have to install it in order to 'use' it properly. BTW from what I have read its seems a pretty easy upgrade from ubuntu. Thanks in Advance S-

Can of worms..... http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/formsandgui...0Form%20FR1.pdf

Linux.org has alot of useful information. also try http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=299756 to get you in the area you wish to search. I've been trying to dual boot but it seems more trouble than its worth. I've ran the live cds and really like the look and feel. What draws me back is the unfamiliarity. Out of the box it works alright for me though just no wireless. Good luck S-

The speedtest is a ping to the provider that provides a return time to you. For downstream think download. It is faster because most people want to look at webpages and are only sending a request out to the appropriate location (URL) to see their webpage. For upstream think of upload. Ever wonder why it takes a long time to send pictures in email or post pictures here at AN? People don't use this service as often as download. Is your modem cable plugged directly into the wall or is it also plugged into a filter? It should be plugged into the filter with a small square plug called an RJ12. I'm fairly frustrated with your predicament. Has anything changed other than your provider? There are things that you can check. Did virgin give you any hardware? A modem perhaps? Have you checked your LAN adaptor settings? The adaptor you are using will have a setting for speed and duplex. Make sure these are set to 100 full duplex and not auto, or 10 full or 10 half. Has virgin given you an IP address to use or do they assign them? In otherwords does virgin use DHCP? To be honest I can't tell you why your new connection is slower. But it makes sense to me that something other than your connection has changed. Good Luck S-

Not sure if I can help at all.. Here are a few pointers and just standard information about DSL/ADSL. DSL- Upstream and downstream speeds are near the same. ADSL- Upstream is typically much slower than downstream. SPEED- The distance between the end user (you) and the central office (ISP) is a factor. Generally the further you are away the more your speed degrades. Quality of your local loop. If your cabling is crap you will also see a degradation in speed. Generally you are responsible for the cabling inside your home. DSLAM- Connects multiple customers DSL to a highspeed internet backbone. If they are using older equipment they may not be able to provide you the speeds advertised i.e. up to 8mb.... So you have adsl. Are you using a modem or a router? Is is hardwired or wifi? Do you have filters at every location where you have a phone plugged in? Is your SKY -if you have it- also plugged into a filter? How far away from your central office are you? -S

Afraid not.. I've been watching this thread and saw the 'idle banter' that was taking place.. Its a shame really. I used to come here everyday under a different name a while ago. I left for selfish reasons and regretted them after. There were many people here that I had a good laugh with. Really enjoyed reading the threads. Trouble was even though I had been a member since late 2002 I still didn't feel more than just a guest. I think I'll stick to the shadows thanks. -S

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What type of BT modem- model number? Is your father trying to connect wirelessly? Does your broadband modem have a web based interface? NAT should be turned on. Also make sure IP-Get Dynamically From ISP is turned on, Check to see if you can adjust the MTU (maximum transmission unit) size. A typical ethernet packet is around 1500 MTUs. Also check to see if you can change channels. There should be 13 channels to choose from. Your connection will vary depending on what channel. Mine has worked wirelessly with three separate laptops- three different adaptor manufacturers (linksys, netgear, HP) and one hardwired connection all at the same time on channel 11. I'm using a netgear 834G. Also double check your wireless adaptor to see if DHCP is enabled. You should have a public IP address. It should be something like 192.168.0.1 My gut feeling is that it is a channel or MTU size issue. And your BT connection should never drop so just double check that all of your filters are in place on each telephone. Chesters has some good information too. Good luck S-